Nowadays, every sales rep knows how to sell their product: establish the relationship by leveraging price and performance advantages over competitors,then expand the business by methodically migrating from one adjanct sales opportunity to the next one.

    If everyone does the same, how should we build our own advantages,especially when we are ambitious and have the strategy of becoming the long-term strategic partner and terminal solution provider?

    Harvard Business School put forward the tailored method by researching dozens of companies ranging from financial services to pharmaceutical industries.Based on the customers' needs, it advises to seek the tailored sources to match the specific opportunity and provide carefully considered support to optimize their return.

    Hence the key problem is to find the tailior area,but how?

    HBS says"Portfolio Approach".It divides the potential sales opportunities into four catagories, and aimed different part suggesting according strategy and tactics as the following.

    Repurchase.This is a already matured market, what the sales rep should do is to remain front and center in customers mind,whenever the need arises, he is there with full confidence,anticipating the needs,meeting customers' specification for feature,benefits and price.He should keep it in mind that if he is abscent, he maybe invite the competitor to steal his business!

    It is said that to get a new client is ten times cost than to maintain an old client,thus value-added service is critical in securing repurchases.Companies with strategic insight have already establish in-house support service to sales reps and customers which aims to help the sales reps to focus on high-level sales efforts which can help to achieve secure repurchase.

    Replacement.Under this bachground, keen monitoring on competitors actions at both the customers and the market is the key factor.The company that keeps close watch on rivals are bset positoned to replace them when they slip up in product and service performance.Of cousce, the success does not come easily,and the successful one shoud track industry trends,competitor product and service failure and so on.

    Expansion.This can be called win-to-win commercial method,which means dig both the customer and their own potential needs.In order to realize the goal, first the company should buid a new functional-crossed department which is comprised of staffs coming from marketing,fiancial,sales and service divisons and has the mission to uitilize all kind of energy to guranty expansion purchase.Sometimes customers themselves even do not realize their real needs,and thus they have no budget.So the sales rep should boost their skill to influence customers' specificaiton and budget.

    Innovation. This is necessary,for this is an informative society,and every technique is imitated soon by others and sales company has littel edge to keep their first position.Innovation needs time and take cost,but when the dream becomes true,it will bring aboundant cash to the the company.